Before The War
by Fiora Kariakis-Mana
Summary: The Gundams were illegalized and ordered to be destroyed. The Shuffle Alliance didn't comply with the new law and were executed, survived only by thier widows and children. 200 years later, their descendants band together to save the world in their stead.
1. Broken Walls and Amazing Finds

Before the War

Chapter 1

A young woman in military dress walked down a long hallway. She brushed a stray hair behind her ear. "General Gulsky!" she heard someone call from behind. She stopped and sighed. "What do you want, Tavoc?" "General," he repeated. "What?" she asked again. "General, you never told me you were taking a leave of absence," he said. "Why are you bringing this to my attention, Tavoc?" she asked, her patience wearing thin. "Well, uh, well," he stuttered. "Tavoc!" she yelled. "I was, ahhh, wondering who you put in charge of the Gundarium smuggling ring case," he said quickly. "Someone competent enough for the job, Tavoc," she said before turning around and continuing the walk down the hall. "I hate my job," she muttered. 

She walked down the rest of the hallway and pulled something out of her pocket. "Best time a the day," she thought as she scanned her key card and opened the door. She walked out the door into the hazy parking lot. She winced in pain and immediately started to massage her temples. She heard a rumble of thunder and looked up at the sky. "Great. Just what I need to top off another terrible day at work," she muttered. She scanned the parking lot for her red Sedan. She spotted it and walked over to it. She fumbled with her keys and unlocked the door. She got in and drove home. 

When she got home, she went straight to her answering machine. She pressed the play button and listened: 

__

"Alexandra, its your mother. Honey, why don't you call any more?" 

"Maybe cause you're a senile old bag," she mocked. 

She turned around and heard the house creak. It was an old house. Her ancestors first lived there about two hundred years ago. She sighed and leaned back against the wall behind her. She leaned there for a few moments before hearing a strange cracking noise. "Wha-" she was cut off by the wall giving way. She screamed before hitting the floor hard. "This has to be the worst fuckin' day a my life!" she yelled. She slowly sat up and turned around, and her jaw dropped as low as humanly possible. "What on earth……" she trailed off, looking at the room that had been hidden. She got up, brushing some of her green hair from her face. She took her glasses off and wiped them off on her shirt. She looked around the room. There was nothing in it but a bookcase, filled to capacity, on the far end. She walked over to it and gaped at them. Most of them looked like really old photo albums, but one stuck out. She took a few steps forward, kicking up what seemed like decades of dust. Alexandra coughed and tried to fan the dust out of her face. "Damn," she choked. She started walking again, this time more carefully. She made it to the bookcase without almost choking to death again. She pulled out the book that interested her, held her head back, and dusted it off. There was no title or label on the book whatsoever, it just had a faded red cover. She opened it hesitantly to the first page. In delicate, midnight blue handwriting, were five names. 

__

Domon Kasshu- King of Hearts

Chibodee Crocket- Queen of Spades

Sai Sici- Ace of Clubs

George de Sand- Jack of Diamonds

Argo Gulsky- Black Joker

The last name; _Argo Gulsky_; interested her the most. "This book………It has to be at least fifty years old," she thought. She flipped ahead a few more pages and found five more names, although they were not those of people. 

__

Burning Gundam

Gundam Maxter

Dragon Gundam

Gundam Rose

Bolt Gundam

"Gundams? But……" she flipped about five more pages and found newspaper clippings taped onto the pages. 

Terrorist Strikes! 6,000 Killed With Illegal Gundam!

She turned her attention to the clipping to the left. 

__

Gundams To Be Made Against Law

By the end of the year, all Gundams to be destroyed, all pilots who violate will be persecuted. 

"This has to be at least two hundred years old. If……if this is real…." she stuttered. She had to know more. She turned the page a few times until the clippings stopped. There was more writing in the midnight blue ink, but the pages were stained with what looked like tears. "This was a diary," she thought. She took a deep breath, and read the entry. 

__

February 18, FC 80

Argo and the rest of the Shuffle Alliance, they have refused to comply with the Gundam Destruction Law. They are meeting at the very moment, deciding on the location to hide their Gundams. All of us know the consequences of their insubordination, but at the moment, it seems the best thing to do. I must go now. 

Nastasha Gulsky

Alexandra swallowed hard. She knew what was coming, why these pages were stained with tears. She had learned this in her high school history class. _Anyone who didn't destroy their Gundam was executed. _The only thing that they really _didn't _know was _who. _ But now, she did. 


	2. Do Your Homework

Before The War

Fictionqueen: *Doing the 'Rocky' Dance* I got a review! I got a review! I got a review! Yo Adrian! Oh…sorry, wrong movie. ~^_^~ 

Chapter 2

Alexandra looked around. She probably just found the biggest library of information on this time period ever. "If the locations of those Gundams are in here, the government would pay millions for it," she thought, an evil grin growing on her face. Her smile soon faded, leaving only a look of guilt. "Five men died to keep this all a secret, and here _I_ am, a descendant of one them, ready to turn this all in," she mumbled, "But, if the locations of these Gundams _are_ in here, I _could_ track them down myself." She paused for a moment. "But then again, what would _I _do with four extra Gundams," she said to herself. That's when the light bulb went on. She turned around quickly, kicking up more dust. She shielded her eyes and mouth with her hand and held the book close to her chest. She waited for most of the dust to settle and continued to walk to the 'door' she had created. She walked slowly, trying to step on the footprints she had created earlier. 

She walked over the large pile of debris to the main part of the manor, still clutching the book tightly. She walked over to the living room and turned on a light. She walked to the left side of the room to a desk. She set the book down dug around the cluttered desk. She picked up a pen and scribbled on a scrap of paper. She set the pen down and looked in the top drawer on the left side. She pulled out a blue spiral notebook and grabbed the book and her pen and walked to the table in the middle of the room. She gently set everything down, pulled out a chair, and sat down. 

She opened the book and turned ahead a few pages. "Now, who came from where?" she asked herself silently. "Okay, Domon Kasshu……Neo Japan," she read aloud, writing it down as she spoke. "Chibodee Crockett…Neo…America. (Turns page) George de Sand…Neo France. Sai Sici…..Neo China, and Argo Gulsky, Neo Russia." "Okay, that wasn't as hard as I thought it would be," she said as she tore the page from the notebook. "Now time for the good ol' Internet to work its magic." 

She stood up leaving everything as it was, the notebook page held firmly in her hand. She walked out of the living room to the main hall and started to climb the stairs to the second floor. While walking, she became lost in thought. "That woman…Nastasha, she must've lived here all those years ago. She must've been married to that Gundam pilot. I can't imagine what that was like. But what was that Shuffle Alliance thing she mentioned….ay, there are lot's of things I must learn- Whoa!" she was abruptly jolted from her thoughts as she tripped on the last step. She slowly got up and rubbed her knee. "Damn," she thought, "That last step's a doozy."

She walked down the hall to the last room on the left, opened the door, and walked in. She flicked on the light and went over to her computer. She hit the 'On' button and waited a moment before entering her password. She hit the little button on the keyboard that send 'Connect' and waited a few minutes as her computer connected to the Internet. 

When she was logged on she immediately went to search for possible descendants of this 'Shuffle Alliance'. "Okay…" she muttered. She clicked 'Search' and then chose Japan as the country she wanted to search. She typed Kasshu in and clicked Search again. "Performing Search, Please Wait," she read, "Great. I was planning on doing this tonight, but." Five minutes later, the search was complete. "Wow, that was quick," she said as she looked at the results. 

One name appeared on the screen: Ronin Kasshu. 

"Hmmm. I hope this is it," she thought. She wrote _Ronin Kasshu_ down next to _Domon Kasshu_ on her list. "Now where does this guy live?" she asked as she double-clicked on the name. Everything was N/A. (Not Applicable.) "Damn, he doesn't want anyone finding him," she said, getting a little frustrated, "Well, at least I found his name." She clicked the back button three times and started a new search with China Sici. This time, the results were a little more lucrative. "Okay, Sarai Sici," she mumbled as she jotted the name next to Sai Sici. She clicked on the name, expecting what she got with Ronin, but this had some useful details. "Shaolin Temple, Shaolin Temple, Shaolin Temple…. Where the hell is the Shaolin Temple?! Could they be anymore vague? Not even a city its close to or anything? Whatever. Two down, two to go," she said. She performed the next two searches and found the people she hoped she needed. Their names were Eric Crockett and Jacque de Sand. "I'll take care of the hardest one to find first, so, I guess I'm going to Japan tomorrow." 

_____________________________________________________________________________________

*Fictionqueen typing madly at computer* 

Domon: Ahem!

*FQ turns around and sees Shuffles* Oh……Hey guys.. ^_~

*Domon points at fan fic* What is the meaning of this?!

FQ: Meaning of what?

George: How could you kill us? ME? I'm you're favorite!

FQ Oh, c'mon….you knew it'd happen eventually. And I'd shut up if I were you Frenchie, this ain't the last time I kill you. 

Chibodee: I thought _I_ was your favorite?

FQ: Shut up, you owe me.

Chibodee: For what?

FQ: I give you a hot girlfriend in another fic *Shiori rushes in and hugs him* 

Chibodee: Point proven. 

FQ: Now shut up so I can finish the story

*Cartman, Kyle and Stan run in*

*Stan points at Sai* Oh my God! He killed Kenny!

Kyle: You bastard!!! 

Cartman: I'm gonna kick you in the nuts!

Sai: I'm gonna go. *Runs off* 

FQ: Dude, this is pretty fucked up right here.

*Shuffles and Shiori all nod* 

FQ: Oh, and so you know, I haven't published my fic with Shiori in it yet, but that is sorta a spoiler. Sorry!


	3. Ronin Kasshu, Assassin At Large

Before The War

FQ: Hello again. Sorry for the slight delay with this chapter. I would like to thank everyone for sending the reviews. (They like me! They really like me!!!!). On a lighter note, the conflict between Sai and the guys from South Park is being resolved in the court of the honorable Judge Judy. Anyway, on with the story!

Chapter 3

The next morning, Alexandra awoke with a blistering headache. She covered her eyes with her hands and groaned. "Anyone get the number of that truck?" she mumbled, rubbing her temples. She hadn't exactly had the best day of her life yesterday. She had fallen through a wall, learned a gruesome piece of her family history, and then was up practically all night tracking down people she didn't even know existed and trying to get a flight to Japan! All she knew was that she had a long day ahead of her. At least she hoped it would take a day. She slowly sat up and looked out her window at the busy streets. She looked over at her clock. "Oh, damn, it's already noon," she groaned. She slowly got up and out of bed and shuffled lazily across the room to her bathroom for her shower. 

About twenty minutes later, she shuffled back out, dressed only in towel and her hair up in one of those turban things. She was still very groggy, and still had the splitting headache. She put her hand on her forehead and groaned. "I need a friggin' aspirin or something," she said. She walked over to her dresser and pulled out the top drawer. She dug through the clothes for a few moments until she found a green button up shirt. She pulled that out and searched a little longer, looking for the matching skirt.

When she had the set, she walked back over to her bed. She dressed in what she had selected and reached for her glasses. She put them on and looked around for a hairbrush. "Where the hell did I leave that thing?" she asked herself. She got down on her knees and looked under her bed. She felt around with her hand and pulled out a rather dusty hairbrush. She looked at it and frowned. "Not more dust," she whined. She ran it against the carpet a few times, and that got rid of most of it. She started to brush out her hair and got up. She finished up with her hair and tied it back into a ponytail. She walked over to the bottom left corner of her room, got her purse, and walked back to her nightstand. She grabbed the list and used it to save her place in the book. She put the book in her purse and walked out of the room and started down the stairs. She continued downstairs and walked across to the front door. 

When outside, she walked over to her car. She unlocked the door, got in, and started it. She then drove off for the airport. 

When Alexandra arrived at the airport, she quickly got out of her car and grabbed her purse. She locked her car and looked at her watch. "Shit!" she yelled, "My plane leaves in fifteen minutes!" She started to run to the building when it started to rain. "You have to be kidding me!" she shouted. She started to run faster, but she forgot she was wearing heels, therefore falling flat on her face. "This isn't my day," she muttered as she got up. She started walking to the building and glanced at her watch again. "Ten minutes. Great."

When she got inside, she heard the intercom. "All passengers for 1:15 flight to Tokyo, please board now." Alexandra looked around, looking for a way to bypass the security. "The bathroom, of course!" she thought. You could get into the same bathroom from both sides of the metal detectors and security guards. She walked over to the bathroom door quickly and quietly, as she did getting out. "No one even noticed me," she thought. She continued walking and got her ticket out.

When she got to the gate, and young Asian looking woman stopped her and asked for her ticket. Alexandra handed it over and went ahead. She got on the plane and looked around for her seat. "Ah, here we go," she said as she went to sit down. She sat there for a few moments and just wasted time until the plane took off. After awhile, she got the book out of her purse. She opened it and flipped a few pages. Then she came to an entry that looked interesting. 

__

March 1, FC 82

I have received most terrible news from France. Marie, sadly, has passed on. She was so young, no one could find anything medically wrong with her, but, a broken heart can hurt more than any physical ailment. She hadn't been _the same, ever since, well. I don't even recall her smiling after George's death. She hung on his every word. She was lost without him. But, the saddest thing of all is that their son is not old enough to remember either of them. Perhaps, they will all be reunited one day. _

Nastasha

Alexandra could feel the tears forming in her eyes. She had absolutely no idea _who_ she was reading about, but it was still heart wrenching. "This is like a soap opera or something. I can't read anymore of this," she thought as she closed the book. She leaned her head back, closed her eyes, and was soon asleep. 

A few hours later, she woke up. She looked around and remembered she was on a plane. She looked out the window and saw nothing but neon lights forming Japanese words. "Good, we're here," she thought. She slipped the book back in her bag and grabbed the list. A few minutes later, the plane landed. 

Alexandra got took her bag and got off the plane. She left Tokyo International Airport and was astonished by the vastness of the city. "Ronin Kasshu, Ronin Kasshu. I'll never find you, will I," she groaned. She started walking the streets aimlessly until she felt a siring pain in her right hand. She stopped and rubbed her hand, but the pain wouldn't go away. She looked at her hand at it began to hurt more. "God damn!" she yelled. She looked up at the neon sign above her, and the pain subsided a little. "I have a strange feeling about this place," she thought. She took of her glasses and put them in her purse and unbuttoned a few more buttons on her shirt so she showed a little more cleavage, and walked in. 

When inside, she looked around for the seediest looking man sitting in darkest corner. She picked him out and walked over. When she got there, she set her bag down and sat on the edge of the table. She tugged on the edge of her skirt a little and put the sexiest smile she could on her face. "And what can I help you with, missy?" he asked in an English sounding accent. "Why the hell is he talking like that?" she thought. "Hello?" he said again. "Oh, yes. I was wondering if you could tell me where I could find someone named Ronin Kasshu," she said in a flirty voice. "Kasshu? You sure? He's a little pricey. I could take care of whatever you want done for a fraction of the cost," he said. Right now, Alexandra was really wondering _what_ these services _were _exactly. "He's gotta be the best damned assassin in all of Japan, I'd say," he continued, "You must really want this guy taken care of." It was true, she wouldn't mind having Tavoc out of her hair, so she answered. "Like I said before, where can I find him," she said. "I usually don't tell everyone this, _but_," he said, "You might want to write this down." Alexandra listened and got out a pen and 'the list'. "Alright, at the corner of 78th and 77th, there'll be an alley. Go down the alley until you get to the last door on the left. Knock on the door before you go in, he might have another client," he explained. Alexandra wrote down everything he said. "You got that?" he asked. She nodded. She got up and grabbed her bag. "Thanks, ah, I didn't get you name," she said. "Ishikawa," he replied quickly. "Thanks, Ishikawa," she said. She turned around and exited the bar with a smile on her face. She now had only two problems. 1. Finding the corner of 78th and 77th 2. Getting Ronin Kasshu to accept. Her first problem wouldn't be too hard to accomplish. The second one might be a little tricky. Okay, really tricky. Ishikawa said he was pricey. What he meant by that wasn't really clear. Hopefully, five hundred would cover it. 

She walked around a little longer and became completely lost. She kept walking until she came across another person. She told her to go back the way she came and make the first left, and so she did. She walked to the corner and looked around for the alley. She walked down the alley to the last door on the left and knocked. 

Inside, a man with jet black hair sat with his feet on a desk in front of him and the back of his chair leaned against the wall behind him, polishing a gun. He slowly set the gun down on the desk and covered it with the rag he was using. "Come in!" he said. 

Alexandra walked in and sat down in the chair opposite the man. "Ronin Kasshu, I presume," she said. He nodded. "What can I do for you?" he asked. "Good question," she replied. He looked at her strangely. "You're a cop, aren't you," he questioned. "What's with the third degree?" she asked. "Well said. What can I do?" he said. She slipped a piece of paper in front of him. He picked it up, turned it over, and read what it said aloud. "Burning Gundam? What the fuck is this?" he shouted as he crumpled up the paper. "I know where to find five Gundams," she replied. He cracked up. "Y-you have t-to be kidding me!" he laughed. She looked at him with an offended expression on her face. "Do you realize what you are turning down?" she asked him. He regained most of his composure and looked at her with most seriousness. "Listen, lady. I kill people. I don't go around finding giant robots," he said. He started laughing a little again. "Now if you'd please take your leave." "I-I'll pay you," she said. He became more interested. "How much?" he asked. "Five hundred now, and five hundred later," she replied simply. He looked at her for a long time. "Read my lips: No way in hell," he answered, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "And I might be able to have you record expunged," she stated. "W-What?" he replied. "Erased. A clean slate," she explained. "I know what the hell it means! What I want to know is how you could do that?" he asked. "General Alexandra Gulsky," she said. "You are a cop," he replied. "So? Is it a deal?" she asked. "Sold, to the lady in the green dress!" 


	4. When Bedtime Stories Come To Life

FQ: Hey, hey, hey! Fictionqueen here again with the next installment of the story. But, before we get started, we're gonna have a little visit with Sai. As you know, he had been on trial for the murder of Kenny McCormick. Well, unfortunately, his lawyers sucked and he lost the case. No, no, don't worry. As soon as Kenny regenerates himself, Sai will be released from juevy, but before he gets sent into lockdown, we'll visit with him. Guards!

*Sai walks in in an orange jumpsuit with handcuffs on and two armed guards behind him* 

FQ: And how are you today?

Sai: How do I look? This is your fault, anyway. 

FQ: Hey, I didn't kill the poor boy.

Sai: Well I sure as hell didn't. _And_ I think you're story sucks, too!

FQ: Oh, really. Well, then, guards!!! Lock 'im up!!!

Sai: *Guards dragging him away* I'm sorry! I really am! I take it back!

FQ: Ah, blow it out your nose! *Wait's a few minutes* Is he gone? Good. Slave!!!!!!!

*A battered Kenny walks in* 

FQ: Muwahahahahaha! I framed Sai and am now using Kenny as my slave! Ha! *Calms down* Get me another Mountain Dew from downstairs slave! 

*Kenny walks toward the stairs* 

FQ: *Hears Kenny yell and then a large splat* Oops. Better go clean that up. Well, on with the story!

Before the War

Chapter 4

Alexandra stood up out of her chair and reached for her bag on the ground. "So I assume you'll be here tomorrow morning, correct?" she asked. "Why do you think you're leaving?" he asked. "W-what?" she asked, a small feeling of panic rushing through her. "You didn't give me my cash yet," he replied. "I don't exactly trust you, Kasshu. You might just take the money and leave town. Five hundred bucks isn't bad, at least for nothing," she said. "You promise me cash, you don't leave until I get it," he replied roughly. "Fine, then. I'll just stay here for the night," she said curtly. Truthfully, if she _were_ to pay him, she wouldn't have enough to get a room for the night. "Stay……here?" he asked. Alexandra nodded. "I can sleep on the floor. It's not like I haven't before," she replied. "Fine," he said. "Fine," she answered defiantly. He pointed his thumb backwards at the staircase behind him. "I'll be, ah, upstairs. Try not to make toomuch noise," he said as he walked backwards to the stairs. She eyed him the entire time until he disappeared. She walked to the center of the room and sat down. She sighed lightly and unzipped her boots. She stood her boots up next to her and set her bag in her lap. She pulled out the book and put the bag under her head for a pillow. She grabbed the book and opened it, flipped around a few pages, and closed back up. "I can't read anymore of that. It's just so depressing," she said, setting it back on the floor. She put her hands on her stomach and closed her eyes, and slowly, drifted off to sleep. 

Upstairs, a good six hours later, Ronin's alarm clock went off. Groggily, he slammed his hand down on it and felt around for the off button. After a moment of missing the button like he was drunk, he reached down and ripped the plug from the wall. He slowly got up and out of his bed. He walked over to an old looking dresser and opened the top drawer. He shifted around and pulled out a baggy pair of khaki cargo pants and pulled them on over his boxers. He picked up a dark green T-shirt from the floor and put it on. He then scratched his head and began to walk downstairs. 

About halfway down the stairs, he saw Alexandra, lying on the floor. He eyed her for a moment. "I never realized she was so hot," he thought. That's when he noticed the book that she had left out. He almost silently crept over. He bent over and picked it up. He opened it and turned a few pages and found some kind of statistics. The page read: 

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Burning Gundam

Pilot- Domon Kasshu

Unit Type- Mobile Fighter

Model- GF13-017NJII

Height- 16.6 m

Full Weight- 20.6 tons

He read the pilot's name again. "_Domon Kasshu_," he said softly. "Kasshu," he repeated. This awoke Alexandra. She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him. That's when she noticed that he had the book. She quickly got up and stared at him. "Do you mind?" she asked. "What? Oh, the book. Here," he said, handing it over. She swiped it out of his hand. She walked over to where she had slept, bent over and picked up her bag. She slipped the book into it and set it on the desk. He watched her move the whole time. She could feel him staring at her. "What are you staring at?" she asked, not even bothering to turn around and look at him. "Nothing," he muttered. She scowled at him in a childish way, as did he, as she zipped herself into her boots. When she finished, she began to walk toward the door. "We had this argument last night," he said. She stared at him strangely. "What argument?" she asked innocently. "Don't even try to toy with me. It won't work. Now where's my money?" he asked. She sighed and looked in her bag. She pulled out her wallet and started taking out money. She counted the bills and extended her hand out to him. "Here," she said, "Five hundred. Now we go." He took the money and counted it, glancing up at her every few bills. When he finished, he said, "Okay, let's go." He started towards the door and Alexandra followed closely. He opened the door, and the two walked out. 

Outside, Ronin locked the door and Alexandra watched. "So, where exactly are we going?" he asked. "Neochina," she mumbled quickly. He turned and looked at her. "Slower, louder." She glared at him. "Neo China," she repeated in a harsh tone. "Okay, that's all I wanted," he said with a hint of defensiveness. He walked over to a garage door hit a button next to the door and it opened, revealing a blue plane-like car. He pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and hit a button, opening the cockpit of the strange vehicle. He walked over to the car and hopped in. Alexandra followed hesitantly and did as he did. 

When she was inside, he pressed a button that brought the windshield back down. He started it up and drove out of the garage. 

After about five minutes of an awkward silence, Ronin broke the silence. "So," he started. "So what?" she retorted quickly. "Can you let me finish?" he asked. She nodded. "Where in Neo China are we going, exactly?" he asked. "Well, I, um, I'm not sure," she stuttered. "You're kidding me, right?" he replied. Alexandra shook her head. He stared at her like she just fell from the sky. She responded to this, "I want to get to the Shaolin Temple." "Shaolin…Temple, I've heard of that place, I think it's outside of Beijing," he replied. "Oh," she muttered. They remained silent for another hour or so, and Ronin spoke again. "That book, why do you carry it around?" he asked. Alexandra looked out the window, not bothering to look at him, and replied, "None of your business." "Okay then," he began, "Maybe you can tell me why is has something about my father in it?" "Your father? You must be mistaken, that book is from the FC 80s," she replied. "Oh," he muttered. After that, they didn't talk at all until they got to Beijing. 

They drove along the outskirts of the city to cut down on the time it would take to reach the temple. By this time, they were on a dirt road in the country. That's when they came across a large hill with a barely visible building at the peak. Ronin noticed this and hit the brake pedal hard, sending Alexandra forward. "What the hell was that for?!" she yelled at him. "The road ended," he replied simply. "So?!" she yelled. "Can't you take a hint?" he asked arrogantly. She glared daggers at him as he hit the button to lift windshield. When it was up, he hopped out and she followed. 

The pair started to walk up the steep hill. Ronin had his hands in his pockets and was watching the sky in a childish manner as he walked. Alexandra watched ahead. She glanced over at Ronin from time to time. They walked for about another twenty minutes before they reached the building. When they got to the entrance, one of the monks greeted them. 

"Can I help you?" he asked. "Maybe you can. I'm looking for a Sarai Sici," she replied. "Oh, yes, Sarai is inside. You'll find her in the room at the end of the hallway," he directed. "Okay, thank you," she said as she walked inside. Ronin followed her with an oblivious look on his face. They walked all the way down the hall until they reached and doorway into a sand floored room. In the center of the room, there was a large rock, and sitting, meditating on the rock, was a young woman with aquamarine hair. She was wearing a white tank top, gray jogging pants, whites sweatbands and a white hair band. Alexandra knocked on the doorframe. The girl opened her eyes and looked at them. "May I be of service to you?" she asked. "Yes," Alexandra asked, "I'm looking for a Sarai Sici." The girl stood up and started to walk over to them. "This is she," she said. "May I speak with you for a moment?" Alexandra asked. "Sure," Sarai replied. "Follow me, we can talk in here." 

Ronin and Alexandra followed Sarai into the next room. It was plain, like the rest of the monastery, but instead of sand for the floor, there was a tatami mat and there was a low table and two small cushions on either side for seats. Sarai and Alexandra sat down on the cushions, and Ronin sat against the wall in the corner. After the two sat down, Alexandra began to explain the situation to her. 

"I am here to offer you a once in a lifetime chance," she said. "I have everything I could ever want right here," Sarai replied. "Have you ever heard of a thing called Dragon Gundam?" Alexandra asked. "Dragon Gundam, heard of it? The legends of its pilot have been passed on through my family for generations!" she replied. "Really?" Alexandra asked. "Yes," Sarai replied, "When I was a young girl, my mother, before she passed away, would tell me bedtime stories about Sai Sici, Neo China's pilot in the last five Gundam fights. He was supposed to have been raised here. Now, how do _you_ know about it?" "Well," Alexandra said as she pulled the book out of her purse and set it on the table, "I found this in my home. It explains what happened to Sai and the rest of the Shuffle Alliance, as they were called, when they hid their Gundams. Now I am a descendant of Neo Russia's last pilot Argo Gulsky, as Mr. Kasshu over there is a descendant of Neo Japan's. Now, their Gundams were never found, and I am sure that there are enough clues in this book to track them down and return them to their rightful owners. So, would you be willing to join us on our, ah, quest?" Sarai looked at her with starry eyes. "I-I have d-dreamed of continuing my ancestor's legacy since I was a little girl. I would be honored." "Good," Alexandra said, "Oh, an by the way, my name's Alexandra." 


	5. Two Ladies Walk In, And They Exit With T...

FQ: Sorry for the delay. My Internet privileges were revoked for awhile cause I cranked out a $186 phone bill, and my mom was pissed, but I am back in action, and, well, here's the new chapter. 

Before The War 

Chapter 5

A few hours later, the sun had set and the stars were littering the sky. Ronin and Alexandra had retired to the guest rooms. Sarai was in her room, but was anything but asleep. She was thinking about the events of the previous day. 

"I wonder if Alexandra _really_ knows where the Gundams are," she thought. With that, she sighed and closed her eyes. A few seconds later, she opened her eyes again. "That's it, I can't sleep," she declared. She got up and walked out of her room and outside. 

When she got outside, she breathed in the fresh air. She walked a little further out to where you could see the pond east of the temple. She sat down on the grass and gazed at the reflection of the stars on the water's surface. She sighed and leaned back. She looked back up at the stars looked around for different constellations. "There's Draco…Aquarius, where are you?" she thought. She gazed up at the stars for a few moments before she felt and agonizing pain in her right hand, but as soon as it came, it was gone. She looked at her hand, expecting to see some form of mark, but it was fine. "That was weird," she thought. She looked over her hand for a moment until she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around abruptly and saw a very startled Alexandra. 

"Alexandra, what are you doing out here?" Sarai asked. "Can't sleep," she replied. "Oh. Me either," Sarai said. They sat in an awkward silence for a moment. "Ah, Alexandra?" Sarai asked. "Yeah," she replied. "Are you sure you know where these Gundams are?" she asked. "Not one hundred percent, but I found a map in that book," Alexandra replied. "Really?" Sarai asked, a hint of doubt in her voice. "Granted, its two hundred years old and not in the best condition, but it isn't hard to compare maps," she replied. "Okay," Sarai said. "It also says something about an island, but I doubt that'll help much," Alexandra stated. "So, where are we going tomorrow?" Sarai asked. "Neo France," she replied quickly, "We're looking for the crown prince." "That should be fun getting past the guards," Sarai said. Alexandra smiled at the joke, got up, and headed back to her room, and Sarai soon followed.

The next morning, Ronin stood outside waiting for the girls. "How long does it take them to get ready?" he thought. He sighed, and as if on cue, Alexandra and Sarai walked out. "Finally," he muttered, opening the cockpit of their vehicle. "What was that?" Alexandra asked. "Nothing," he said. Sarai ran over to the car and jumped in. Ronin and Alexandra slowly walked side by side. "Could you have taken any more time getting ready?" he asked her arrogantly. "Well, we _are_ going to meet the crown prince," she replied. "It won't be worth it. I have a feeling it won't be worth it," he said. "Whatever," she replied as she hopped into the passenger seat. He got into the driver seat, closed the cockpit, and they drove off. 

A good twelve hours later, they crossed the border into France. "Can we please stop?" Sarai whined. "No," Ronin replied roughly. "I need to move my legs!" she continued. He turned his head sideways and looked back at her. "Do you want to get to Paris today?" he asked. He looked back ahead of them. Sarai sat with a pout on her face and Alexandra began banging her head against the window. "How much longer do you think it'll take to get to Paris?" she asked. He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, one and a half, maybe two hours," he replied. "Great." 

Two hours later, they were in the outskirts of Paris, and Ronin stopped the car. "Wait, why are we stopping?" Alexandra asked. "We're walking," he replied quickly. "What?" Sarai asked. He looked back at her. "What part of _we're walking_, don't you understand?" he asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "And besides, you're the one who wanted to move your legs." She glared daggers at him as he pressed the button that raised the cockpit. When it was up, the three got out. 

Alexandra looked around. "This must be the old part of the city," she said. "Yeah, there are parts of Tokyo that are like this, too," Ronin said. They continued walking for another moment or do until Alexandra spoke up. "I guess we could take a cab," she suggested. Ronin looked at her with slight frustration. "How are we supposed to find a cab?" he asked her. Sarai, who had been silent the whole time while walking behind them, rolled her eyes. "You two argue like you've been married for twenty years," she said. They both came to a stop and glared at her. She looked back and forth at their menacing glares. "What?" she asked innocently. They both sighed, and the group continued onward. 

After about a half an hour walking, they finally reached civilization. "Finally," Sarai said. "Exactly. Can we get that cab now?" Alexandra asked. "You got cash?" Ronin questioned. "No, I gave it all to you," she shot back. "Don't you think it'd be a little strange for a Japanese man to give out Russian currency in France?" he asked. "So basically, you just don't wanna spend your cash," Sarai concluded. "Precisely," he replied. "Well I'm broke, so what are we supposed to do?" Alexandra asked. "Don't worry, don't worry. I brought money," Sarai said as she fished around in her pocket. Alexandra and Ronin watched as she pulled out a huge wad of money. "How much is that?" Ronin asked with a slight look of amazement. "Just a hundred," she said. "All that is one hundred dollars?" Alexandra asked. "It's all ones and fives. It's mostly stuff I fished outta the donations box at the temple," she replied, "It only took fifteen years to collect." "Well, we better get going," Alexandra suggested. "Yeah, I don't feel like walking around like an idiot looking for the palace," Ronin said. With that, Sarai sat down on the curb. "What are you doing?" Alexandra asked. "Taking a break," she replied quickly. "We're trying to get a cab here!" Alexandra shot back. Sarai looked up at her. "Well then get back to work!" Sarai yelled. They glared at each other for a few moments until a cab pulled up. They both looked at Ronin who smiled sarcastically at the two. "Ladies first," he said as he opened the door. Sarai got in, but as Alexandra attempted to enter the car, Ronin cut her off and got in. She flashed the evil eye at him and got in. 

When she entered and he saw the look on her face, he snickered a little. She glared at him, at then they both looked in opposite directions. "Where can I take you?" the cabdriver asked. "Oh, can you take us to the palace?" Alexandra asked. "Sure," he replied as he started the car. They all sat in silence during the drive. 

Twenty minutes later, they reached their destination. "Here you are, the palace. That'll be thirty dollars," he said. Sarai counted out the money and handed it to the driver, and they stepped out and stared at the huge building in front of them. "How are we supposed to get in there?" Ronin asked. Alexandra glanced down at his belt at the gun he still had strapped to it. "We won't if you don't hide that thing," she said. Without any trouble at all, he pulled his shirt down over it. "We still need some kind of plan," Sarai said. "Ronin, I'm sure _you've_ broken into a building before," Alexandra said. "I don't kill people in their homes," he said. "Then how the hell _do_ you kill people?" she asked. "Bigger crowds, more suspects, less chance of getting caught," he said simply, "Although_, _we _could_ kill the guards." Sarai and Alexandra both looked at him like he was insane. "You have one gun, and probably a limited amount of ammo. How would that work?" Sarai asked. "My poor, simple minded friend," he said as he brandished his weapon, "This baby doesn't shoot bullets." Alexandra looked at him with frustration. "Then what_ does_ it shoot?" she asked. "Poison darts," he said, taking aim on something neither of them could see, "Poison strong enough to kill anyone and anything that breathes in almost instantly," He pulled the trigger, and a small, steel dart silently shot, hitting its target, which was a small bird. Of course, the only reason they knew it was a bird, was because it fell dead from a tree. 

The girls cringed. Ronin lowered his weapon and smiled at them. "Now if you don't think I can't hit a fat ass security guard, I'd like to test that," he said walking forward. "You think we should stop him from something stupid?" Sarai asked. "I think _that _might be stupid," Alexandra replied. They stood there for a moment, and then chased after him. "Ronin!" Alexandra called. He turned around. "What now?" he asked in a childish manner. "Please, please, don't do anything stupid," Alexandra begged. "Who said I was going to do something stupid?" he asked again. She glared at him. "Fine, fine. First, we'll try the diplomatic way, and if that fails, we'll use plan B," he explained. "And what exactly _is_ plan B?" she asked. "Oh, ah, I'll tell you if we need it," he said. Sarai looked up at her. "There is no plan B," she muttered. "Ronin!" Alexandra yelled. He turned around again, looking very frustrated. "What now?" he asked. "Maybe you should just stay out here, and if we can't get in, we can follow plan B," she said, the last half highlighted with sarcasm. "Fine," he said before he walked over to the curb and sat down. "Okay, maybe now we'll actually have a chance of getting in," she muttered as she and Sarai walked up to the gate. 

When at the gate, a fat security guard sitting in the gatehouse, looked at them. "Can I help you ladies?" he asked. "Yeah, we really need to get inside," Alexandra said. "I'd assume you're here to see the prince, is that correct?" he asked again. They both nodded quickly. "Is he expecting you?" he asked again. "Uh huh," Alexandra said. "Your names please?" he said. "Alexandra and Sarai," she replied quickly. He looked over a list and as he went down, a frown grew on his face. "I'm sorry, but you're name isn't on the list," he said. "Oh, well, I know he's expecting us," Sarai said in a seductive tone. "Oh, are you here for, *ahem* personal matters? I'm sorry for the trouble, go right ahead," he said as he opened the gate for them. They walked for a moment in silence until the gate was closed behind. "He thinks we're hookers!" Alexandra whispered loudly. "I know! What kind of freak calls for hookers in pairs?" Sarai asked with disgust. At least we didn't have to go through with 'Plan B'," Sarai said. "Yeah, that would've really sucked," Alexandra replied. 

After about twenty minutes of traversing the extensive palace and actually getting directions, the girls finally found the prince's room. "This guy must have some serious girl problems," Sarai said. Alexandra nodded as she knocked on the door. They heard what sounded like someone saying 'come in', so they did. 

On the bed in the center of the room sat a young man around the age of twenty with dark blonde hair, almost with a red sheen and deep violet eyes. Around him, however, were six young women wearing practically nothing swooning over him. Sarai and Alexandra both smiled sweetly, but inwardly, they had disgusted looks on their faces. 

He got up and walked over to them, leaving the rest of the girls with jealous looks on their faces. "Hello ladies," he said smoothly, "May I trouble you for your names?" "Sarai," Sarai said quickly, "And Alexandra," Alexandra continued. "Good, good," he said, "My name is Jacque," he said indicating himself with his hand. He grabbed each of their hands and tried to lead them over to the rest of his little harem, but they resisted. "Alex, Alex, Alex. May I call you Alex?" he asked. "Did I mention that was General Alexandra Gulsky?" she asked, pushing on her last nerve. "Oh," he said, almost in a giggle, " A theme." Finally, she snapped and yanked her hand away. "Do I look like I'm a prostitute?" she asked. He looked her over and shook his head. "Hmm, no," he shrugged. She silently gasped in offense and disgust and would have knocked his teeth out if Sarai hadn't stopped her. He put his hands up in defense. "Wait, Gulsky, that sounds Russian. Oh, you're here for peace talks, aren't you?" he said. "I'm here to talk, but not about peace," she said. One of the other ladies was tugging at his sleeve and he put up one finger to shoo her away. "What do you want?" he asked. "One moment," she said before turning to Sarai, "Go tell Ronin we'll be getting out of here soon." Sarai nodded and left the room. "Oh, Jacque, come back over here," one of the women said in a seductive voice. "Ladies, maybe if you could come back later," he said. They all sighed and exited the room. "Now, back to the conversation," Alexandra said. 

Outside, Sarai and Ronin were now sitting on the curb together. "So, the guards thought you were hookers?" Ronin asked. "Uh huh," Sarai replied, "Yeah, he already had six girls in there, too." At that moment, the girls Jacque had dismissed walked out. Ronin turned his head and watched them. "Damn," he said. Sarai looked at him. "Are you listening to me? Ronin!" she yelled. He jerked his head back and looked at her. "Yeah, I'm listening," he said innocently. "Right," she muttered. 

Back inside, Alexandra had finished explaining the situation to Jacque. "So, you expect me, the prince of France, to go on a wild goose chase for Gundams that probably don't even exist?" he asked. "Yeah, pretty much," Alexandra said. "You have to be kidding me," he said. "It's not like you have anything to lose. Or anything better to do," she said. "Good point," he said. She put out her hand. "So, are you in?" she asked. "Fine," he said as he put his hand in hers. "I'm in." 


	6. Meeting On The Doorstep

FQ: So, you decided to come back, eh? Good answer! Again, I'd like to apologize for the delay with the last update, so I'll do it in Japanese! _Gomen!_ See, this is great already. You just learned some Japanese. Now, I did you that favor, and now you have to do me a favor and review! Pretty please? 

P.S. Please _read_ the chapter before reviewing. Again, thank you for your time. 

Before The War

Chapter 6

By now, the group was on their way to Neo America. In the front seat, where Ronin and Alexandra were sitting, Sarai's angry yelling could be heard. "Jacque! Stop it!" she yelled. He quickly dodged a punch she threw at him. "God, I hate him!" she yelled. Alexandra looked back at them. "What's he doing now?" she asked. "Same thing as an hour ago. Trying to feel me up every five minutes," she said, her voice hot with anger. "Hit him," Alexandra said simply. "That's the problem," she said, "He's fast. Really fast." Alexandra sighed. "What?" Sarai asked. "Well, we wouldn't have this problem if you would've just let me hit him when I had the chance," she said. "Yeah, and we'd probably be sitting in jail waiting to get bailed out by an assassin if we would have done that," Sarai replied. "What, you don't think I woulda bailed you guys out?" Ronin chimed in. "No," they said in unison. After that they sat in silence for about five minutes. Until, of course, Jacque again thought he could 'outsmart' Sarai. "Get your filthy hands off of me you little pervert!!!" she screamed. Instead of hitting him, she sat back in her seat, and he looked at her almost with amazement. She looked over at him and smiled. "What are you planning?" he asked her suspiciously. "Oh, nothing…………But this!" she yelled as she lunged after him striking him square in the nose. He yelled in agony and held his hand to his nose, although a small trickle of blood could still be seen. 

He removed his hand and looked in the window to try and see his reflection. Sarai then grabbed his hair, which he had in a ponytail and pulled him back, yelling the whole time. 

She had him so he was looking straight up at her. "Now," she started, "Do you have anything you'd like to say to me?" "Oh, ah, yeah, I-I'm sorry," he said, almost in a whimper. "That's better. Now, you're not going to try and feel me up again, are you?" she asked him. He shook his head and she released him. He sat back up and stroked the back of his hair. "Dude, that was pitiful," Ronin said from the front seat. "Just shut up, okay," Jacque said, still trying to get his nosebleed to stop. Alexandra looked back at Sarai. "Nice one," she said, "You really got him there!" "Okay, can we please stop talking about how stupid I am? I mean, I did agree to play along with this stupid thing," Jacque said. "Fine, fine, we'll stop making you the butt of our jokes," Alexandra said. "Good." 

A few hours later, they were almost in the states and Sarai and Jacque were asleep in the back seat. "So, Alexandra, what city are we going to?" Ronin asked. "New York City," she replied quickly. "Who are we looking for again?" he asked again. "A man by the name of Eric Crockett," she answered. They sat in silence for a moment, until Alexandra broke it. "Ronin?" she asked. "What?" he replied. "Where did you learn how to do that, aim I mean?" she asked. "I thought you'd ask that eventually. It's a long story, you wouldn't want to hear it," he replied in an almost depressing tone. "I don't mind," she said. He looked forward with an empty gaze. He breathed through his nose for a moment, as if deciding if he should tell her or not. She looked over at him. "If you don't want to," she said caringly. "You'd be the first person I told, but, I guess you'd be the first to want to listen, so," he said. Alexandra stared at him. He was almost hypnotic to think about. "How could one person act so cold and shallow, and then the next minute be so deep and willing to tell you everything?" she asked herself. She came back to the real world when Ronin tapped her on the shoulder. "You still with me?" he asked. "Oh, yeah, I'm sorry," she said. "Good," he said, "I was in the Japanese army, the sniper division to be exact. I was one of their elite officers, but, something, well, someone, my friend, Taro Higurashi, well, he…he screwed up, there was an accidental death, so I, being his officer and being responsible for him, took the fall. I got a dishonorable discharge, but." He stopped talking. It was as if the story just…ended. Just like that. Alexandra looked at him. His eyes looked as though they had tears in them. "Ronin, I'm sorry if I intruded," she said. "No, it's fine, you didn't intrude," he replied. After that, they were pretty much silent. 

After a few hours, they reached Neo America. Jacque and Sarai were awake, and thankfully, Jacque had learned his lesson. "We're almost there," Ronin said. "Good," Alexandra replied. Alexandra was still thinking about what Ronin said. "He was almost hesitant to tell me that story," she thought. She looked down at the floor. 

About five minutes later, they were walking around lower Manhattan, and they were pretty much lost. "Do you have any idea where in hell this building is?" Sarai asked Alexandra. "Uh, no, not really," she replied. "Do you have the address?" Ronin asked. "Oh, yeah, I have the address, but I have absolutely no idea where this place is except that it's in lower Manhattan, where we are now," she replied. "Let me see that," Ronin said as he grabbed the paper out of her hand. "3421Broadway Apartment 4 Floor 2," he read aloud. "Now what?" Sarai asked. "Why don't we just… hey! Where's Jacque?" Alexandra asked. Sarai turned around and saw him flirting with a young woman with long brown hair tied in a ponytail and she was wearing a short green skirt. "Jacque!!" Sarai yelled. He looked away for a moment and she walked away. "What?" he asked. She called him over with her eyes. He turned back and called after the girl. After a few frustrating tries, he gave up and walked back over and joined the rest of the group. "What was that for, Sarai?" he asked. "Don't forget, we still have to find that guy, Eric," she said. "Oh, fine," he said in a childish way. "Man, you're on women like a homeless person on a ham sandwich," Ronin joked. Alexandra burst out laughing. "Shut up!" he yelled. "Okay, now, let's just go already," Alexandra said, trying to keep from laughing. "Fine then!" he yelled, "Let's go!" They continued on walking. 

About an hour later, they found the right street. Alexandra looked at the paper with the address. "That should be it," she said, pointing at the last building on the left. "Finally," Jacque complained. "What are you talking about? You've been having a great time, flirting with every pretty girl you see," Ronin said. "Whatever," Jacque muttered. They walked over to the building and checked the mailboxes before they went upstairs. "Crockett, Crockett, Crockett…Here we go!" she said as she checked them over. At that moment, as if on cue, a man pulled up on a cherry red motorcycle. He got off and took off his matching helmet. He walked up the stairs to the door and looked at them. "Can I help you?" 

"Yes, maybe you can," Alexandra said, "We're looking for a man named Eric Crockett." "Yeah, that's me," he replied. Alexandra turned her head briefly and looked at Sarai, who was staring Eric. He was pretty attractive. He had spiked purple hair, dark green eyes, a pierced eyebrow, pierced lower lip, and a diamond stud in his left ear. Alexandra tapped her shoulder and jolted her out of la la land. 

"So, what do you want?" Eric asked. "We would like to talk to you," Alexandra replied. At that moment, a beautiful woman with long blonde hair and a short orange skirt walked up the stairs, and Jacque went nuts. Sarai put her arm out to stop him, but he knocked her over and she fell flat of her face. Eric pushed Jacque back. The woman stayed on the other side of the staircase. "Hey, Eric," she said, looking strangely at Jacque. "Hi, Mina," he replied. Eric then helped Sarai up. "You okay?" he asked. "Yeah," she replied, dusting off her pants, "Thanks." "Like I said, we would like to talk to you," Alexandra continued. "Maybe we should talk inside," he said, turning Jacque, "Away from all the beautiful women." Jacque rolled his eyes. Eric opened the door and let everyone in. They walked up the two flights of stairs to his apartment and waited as he unlocked the door. When the door was open, they all walked in. 

Alexandra and Eric sat down on the couch in the middle of the room, Ronin went and sat in the corner, Sarai turned on the TV and sat down and watched it, and Jacque went over to the window to see if he could see any pretty ladies.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Eric asked. "Well," Alexandra started, " I have a proposition to make you." "And that is?" he asked. "How would you like to have a Gundam of your own?" she asked. "What? Are you serious?" he asked. She nodded. "How in hell would you get me a Gundam?" he asked again. "Well, we, being me, Sarai, Ronin, and Jacque, are on a sort of quest to find them, but, when we find, we each get one. Now, since there are five of them, and since you are a direct descendant of one of their owners," she persuaded. He looked at her for a moment as if in deep thought. "Are you in?" she asked. "I guess."

_____________________________________________________________________________________

FQ: Hiiiieeeeeeeeee! I'm back! And, for those of you who didn't notice, the two girls who Jacque was looking at, were none other than Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus, appearing in that order, and they are here today! 

*Chibodee and George who are sitting on the bed look at the door as the girls walk in* 

Sailor Venus: We have arrived! 

Sailor Jupiter: *Looks at Chibodee* Hey there, cutie! *Goes and sits very close to him* 

*Sailor Jupiter is draped over Chibodee while Sailor Venus is sitting next to a very uncomfortable George and playing with his hair* 

FQ: So, girls, long time no see. How have you been?

Sailor Jupiter: We've been good. *Strokes Chibodee's hair* 

Sailor Venus: *Picks up Noble Gundam and looks at it* What's this?  


George: That's a Noble Gundam action figure. 

Sailor Venus: Cool. Did anyone ever tell its pilot that it looks like Sailor Moon? 

George: I don't think so…

Sailor Jupiter: I say we have a party! That okay with you Fictionqueen? 

FQ: That was exactly what I was thinking! You call the rest of the Scouts, Chibodee, you call Domon, (no offense, but Argo probably wouldn't exactly be the life of the party), and I'll call a couple of buddies from the Sengoku-jidai and we'll party! Readers, come back later for the next installment of the story, and more partying! Wooooooooohooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


	7. Off To A Bumpy Start

FQ: Hello again. I would like to again present_ Fictionqueen's Worldwide Language_. Today the language is Italian_. _Here it is: _Manco per le palle (MAHN-ko pare lay PAH-lay)._ This pretty much means eat my shorts. I dare you to go and say that to a person who speaks Italian. I just dare you. Well, Narakuand Sailor Mars just got here, so, here is the next installment.

Before The War

Chapter 7

Eric had allowed the group to spend the night in his apartment, and everyone but Alexandra was asleep. She was still up, comparing the map in the book to the one on her pompilot screen. "Where the hell does this thing even represent?" she thought angrily. She wished she had never said those words. _Maps aren't hard to compare. _"Yes they are," she thought. She had been up for hours trying to figure out where this map even was. All she had was that it was in Asia. Problem is, Asia is huge. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to know that. However, you did to find this place. Alexandra sighed and dropped her pencil. 

Across the room, Ronin opened his eyes. He slowly got up, not making a sound, and silently walked over to where Alexandra was sitting. "Alexandra, what are you doing up?" he asked in a whisper. She spun around with an almost terrified look on her face. "Y-you don't just go sneaking up on people like that!" she said in a loud whisper. "Why are you still up?" he asked. "I'm trying to figure out where the hell those Gundams are," she said in an agitated tone. "How much do you have so far?" he asked. "They're in Asia. But I got that from the book, not the map," she answered. He smirked. "What?" she demanded. "You know you won't find everything out in one night," he said, "Get some sleep. At least we'll know to go to Asia in the morning." She watched him as he went back to his spot in the corner of the room. She sighed closed the book, and just laid her head down, using the book as a pillow. 

The next morning, everyone _but_ Alexandra was awake. "Is she ever going to wake up?" Jacque asked. "At this rate, it's more likely that you'll stop trying to feel me up," Sarai replied. He glared at her as she stood up and walked over to the desk where Alexandra had fallen asleep. Sarai put her hands on Alexandra's shoulders and shook them. Alexandra shot straight up in the chair. "W-what!" she yelled. "Well it's about time you got up," Ronin commented. "Really?" Alexandra asked as she looked around for the clock. "It's eleven o'clock," Eric said. She looked at him. "Are you serious?" she asked. He nodded. Alexandra got up and brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face. She smoothed an invisible crease form her skirt and sat back down on the couch next to Sarai. "So, where are we going today?" Sarai asked. "Somewhere in Asia," Alexandra said as she opened the book back up. She looked at the map carefully for a moment. Sarai leaned her head over and stared for a moment. "I think I recognize this place," she said softly. "Really?" Alexandra asked with curiosity. "Yeah," she said as she moved her finger to indicate something, "I think these here are the Himalayans." "Are you serious?" Alexandra asked. Sarai nodded her head grimly. Alexandra rotated to book. "There's gotta be some kind of scale," she murmured. They looked at the map for a moment. Finally, after a moment of staring, they found it. "Oh! Right here!" Sarai said, pointing at a barely visible scale, hidden carefully in the mountains. "God, I can barely read that," Alexandra said. "This goes all the way down to Neo Hong Kong," Sarai said. "Okay, so they're probably in the area in the map," Alexandra said. "But this area must be thousands of square miles," Sarai continued. "This is gonna be a long ass day." 

An hour later, they were all crammed back into the now seemingly tiny car of Ronin's, on their way back to Asia. Alexandra sat in the front seat with Ronin, and Sarai, Jacque, and Eric were all stuffed in the back seat. Sarai, foolishly thinking Jacque had learned his lesson the previous day after she had punched him, sat in the middle. "Jacque!" she screamed as he tried to put his arm around her, "Get your filthy mitts off me!!" He quickly dodged her flying fists and settled down. She sat there for a moment with her arms crossed and an expression of sheer anger on her face. Eric looked at her. "You wanna switch seats?" he asked kindly. "Really?" she asked. He nodded. "Yeah, sure, I guess," Sarai answered. Jacque had _'That's not fair'_ written all over his face. Sarai looked at him. "Jacque, you're lucky I haven't tried to throw you out the window," she said sarcastically. He looked at her strangely. "Don't look at me like you're innocent," she said coldly. Then she turned to Eric, who was now sitting in the middle. "Thank you for switching seats with me. I'm sure dog-boy over there won't be a problem for you," she said before looking out the window. "Kiss up," Jacque muttered. Sarai, not bothering even to look at him, gave him the finger. Jacque glared daggers at her and flipped her off in return. Eric looked back and forth between the two, who were now both looking out their windows, shrugged his shoulders, and sighed. 

After an what seemed like an eternity, the sun had set but they had finally reached Asia. Alexandra had her head pressed against her window. "Ronin," she started, in a half asleep half awake manner. At first, he paid no mind to her. "Ronin!" she repeated, this time much louder. "What?" he asked. "How long have we been driving?" she asked. "I have no idea," he replied. "I was just gonna say how maybe we should just stop at a hotel or something," she said. He looked back and forth across the road and then back at her. "We're in the middle of frickn' nowhere. Do _you_ see any hotels?" he asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "And besides, you're not the one who's driving." "Fine then. You just keep driving until we go over a cliff cause you fell asleep," she replied. "I've said it before, and I'll say it again. This is going to be a long ass day," Sarai chimed in. 

Right as Sarai completed her sentence, they heard a strange noise, and the car stopped. "What the hell?" Ronin said, banging on steering wheel. Alexandra looked around for a moment like a deer in the headlights. "What happened?" she asked. "How the hell should I know?" Ronin said. "Lemme check this thing out," Eric said. "What are you gonna do?" Ronin asked. "I'm a mechanic. It's what I do," he replied before getting out. Eric walked in front of the car. "Ronin! Pop the hood!" he called. Ronin complied and opened the hood. Eric fanned the smoke out his face and coughed. "Oh, man, you're motor is _shot_!" he said, emphasizing the word shot, "We're lucky we got this hunk a junk as far as we did." Ronin started banging his head on the steering wheel. "Ronin! Ronin, stop it!" Alexandra yelled. "What?" he asked. "Do you know if we're in Russia yet?" she asked. "Yeah, I think so," he replied. She got her cell phone out of her bag. She hit a few numbers and held it up to her ear. "Hello? Hi, Tavoc, this is Alexandra, you won't believe where I am? Hey, yeah, could you, ah, give us a ride?" she asked sweetly. Ronin watched her face contort with offense and anger. Then she held the phone to her mouth. "Screw you, Tavoc!!!!" she screamed into it before hanging up, "That bastard!" "What's this Tavoc guy, you're boyfriend?" Ronin asked. "Do the math. Do you really think he's my boyfriend?" Alexandra asked. He shook his head. "Good answer." 

Sarai kicked some gravel up from the road. "This really sucks," she said. "It could be worse," Jacque said. "Don't say that! You'll jinx it," she said. "You're the one who jinxed the car, jackass," he replied. "I will break your nose this time, princy!" she yelled. Before she could lunge for his throat, Eric stopped her. "Lemme go!" she yelled. "Sarai, calm down. Sarai!" Eric said. She calmed down, but she still glared at Jacque. "Sit down and take a deep breath," Eric said, helping her to the ground. They all sat in an almost deadly silence for a moment. "It's funny," Sarai started, "I always thought the _Americans_ were the womanizing heathens and the _French_ were the polite and gentlemanly. It seems in _this _case, the two have been switched." Eric laughed a little. Jacque glared at the two of them. At that second, Alexandra stepped out of the car and looked at them. "So, do we have a ride?" Sarai asked. Alexandra shook her head. "Looks like we're walking," Sarai said. Ronin quickly got out as well kicked the side of the car while muttering something. He walked over to the rest of the group. "We should get going." 

___________________________________________________________________________________

FQ: *Screaming over loud music* So, what did you think? I know, it was short, but, hey. Anyway, my little party is really rocking! Yeah, Sailor Pluto, form Sailor Moon, brought music form the future! I'm not sure when exactly it's from, but she said it's around the time when Eminem's too old to remember a word that rhymes with duck. Well, I gotta go save George! He's been a real babe magnet and I don't think he can resist much longer! Let's review, shall we?! 


	8. The Men In The Shadows

Sailor Pluto: Hey there. I bet you're wondering where Fictionqueen is, aren't you. I'm not sure, but I think she's having her way with that George guy in the closet. *Muttering* I hope that's not what she meant…

Sailor Chibi Moon: *Walks up* Hey, Setsuna!

Sailor Pluto: One moment, Small Lady, I'm busy. 

Sailor Moon: *Walks up* Hey, I thought this was supposed to be a G Gundam fic! 

Sailor Pluto: It is!!!! Now would you two leave me alone, you're scaring away the readers! *Muttering* FQ will be so pissed at me. *Talking* Sorry 'bout that, folks! For those of you still here, here's the next chapter! Oh, and remember, R+R!!!! 

Before The War

Chapter 8

After about two hours of walking, the group was beginning to grow very tiered and very lost. As they walked, they heard the hooting of one lone owl. "Alexandra, do you have any idea where the heck we are?" Eric asked. She simply shook her head. Sarai stared at the ground as she walked, shaking her head every few minutes to wake herself up. That's when she felt a familiar yet unwanted hand on her behind. "Jacque!!!!!!" she screamed as she swung around and bashed him with a tight fist. He flew backwards and hit the ground hard. Sarai was about to jump on him and bash the rest of his face in, but Eric grabbed her before she could. "I'll kill you, you little monster!" she yelled, trying to break free from Eric's grasp. Still holding on to Sarai, looked back at Alexandra and Ronin who were watching. "Is she always like this when she's tired?" he asked. Ronin shrugged his shoulders. "I don't think I want to know," Alexandra said. Jacque got up and dusted himself off and looked Sarai in the eye, and laughed right in her face. Again, she tried to tear away from Eric's hold. Jacque jumped back. "C'mon, you two!" Ronin yelled. They both looked at him like they were two bickering siblings who had been scolded by their parent. Eric slowly released Sarai. She stared at Jacque for a moment and lunged for him again, but quickly backed away, laughing very hard. "You scream like a girl more than I do!" she laughed. "That's it," Eric said, grabbing her. "HEY!!! PUT ME DOWN!!!" she yelled as he slung her over his shoulder. "It might be nice for Jacque to actually see the Gundams that we're out looking for before you kill him, Sarai," he said. Of course, she wasn't listening. She was too busy glaring at Jacque. 

"How come you let _him_ touch you, hmm?" he asked, "Don't tell me you're immature enough to actually have a crush on him." Sarai's face grew red with anger, and the expression on Jacque's face also changed, although his was a look of fear. "You didn't!" she yelled as she squirmed out of Eric's grasp. Eric let go in surprise and Sarai fell flat on her face, causing Jacque to burst out laughing. Eric turned around quickly and got down to help her up. "I am so sorry, are you okay?" he asked with a look of concern on his face. She slowly sat up. "No," she groaned. She winced in pain and covered a cut on her forehead with her hand. "Damn, that hurt," she complained. "Today please!" Ronin yelled. Eric stood up and held his hand out to Sarai. She took it and got up. "Thanks," she said quickly. "Welcome," he replied quickly. With that, they continued on their journey. 

A half an hour later, they pretty much gave new definition to 'sleep walking'. "Ronin, can we please stop and rest?" Alexandra asked wearily. "Wha…" he mumbled as he turned his head and looked at her. "Can we stop and rest?" she repeated. "Sure," he answered. They all walked to the side of the road flopped down. "So…freaking…tired," Sarai panted. She fell back and closed her eyes. Jacque saw this and went to sit down right next to her sleeping form. That was until he saw the look on Alexandra's, Ronin's, and Eric's faces, that pretty much said '_We want to sleep. We don't want to put up with Sarai screaming at you all night and then having to save you from her. Good night.' _He took the hint and walked a little further over. About fifteen minutes later, they were all dead asleep. 

The next morning, Sarai was the first to awaken. She looked around for a moment and saw the sleeping forms of Ronin, Alexandra, Eric, and Jacque. She shivered in the cold morning air. There was not a sound to be heard. She quickly sat up. "It's really creepy out here," she thought. She shivered again. She stood up and walked over to where Alexandra was lying listening to her feet crunch in the gravel. She got down on her knees next to her and shook her shoulders, until slowly, she awakened. "What…what time is it?" she asked. Sarai shrugged her shoulders and Alexandra slowly sat up. She looked around for a moment. "Jesus it's quiet out here," she said. Sarai nodded in agreement. "You think we should wait 'til everyone gets up or wake Ronin and Eric up and leave Jacque be himself?" Sarai asked. "That could be entertaining, but not the best idea," she replied. "Oh, well, it was worth a try," Sarai said. 

A man in a military uniform stood in a shadowy balcony overlooking a large bronze-colored metallic creation standing shrouded by darkness. Another man walked up and stood to the left of him. "They are in movement," the one on the right said. "Perfect. Send a unit to track them," he replied. He laughed to himself for a moment. "I almost feel sorry for the fools. They'll have no idea what hit them." 

_____________________________________________________________________________________

FQ: Sup, G! How you like the chapter? Good answer. Oh, and so you know, I was not 'having my way' with George. Okay, it didn't involve anything like 'that'. One moment, *turns around* Chibodee! She's eighteen! Hands off for a while! *Turns back around* Sorry 'bout that. I seriously think someone brought beer to this party. Well, the guys who are gonna set up a satellite connection with Sai in prison are here, so I gotta go! Biiiiiiiyeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!


	9. A Talk With Ronin

FQ: Sup! Before I do anything, I'd like to apologize for the delay with this and all future chapters. I am working on an Inu-Yasha fic as well. (Just when this story's getting good, too.) Well, how are we today? Good, good. Did you remember to review? Good, good. Again, reviews are greatly appreciated. Now- huh? *Stares at Marie* 

Marie: *Giving the 'death stare' to Fictionqueen* What did you do to my George?!!!

FQ: Oh…ah…nothing. 

Marie: Nothing, right…* Presses FQ's face against the screen* Now, what did you do to my George?!! 

FQ: Listen, princess, I'm an orange belt in karate! I don't want to hurt you, but…

*Sesshomaru and Naraku sitting in corner* 

Sesshomaru: 300 yen on the chick with the orange belt.

Naraku: *Nods* 

Sailor Venus: *Looks around* *thinks* If they're both fighting over him… *Yelling* VENUS LOVE-ME CHAIN!! 

George: *Chained up and being dragged away* A little help over here! Somebody! 

*FQ and Marie who are now in a fistfight look over there and jump Sailor Venus* 

Sailor Pluto: *Walks up* Looks like I have my job back. Sorry for the interruption. *Looks over at the scene and cringes* I think we might need an ambulance in a minute. * Turns back at the screen* Well, here's the story. 

Before The War

Chapter 9 

The group had been walking for a while, not really knowing where they were going. Alexandra had been looking through the book the whole time looking for some kind of clue, all of which it was devoid of. Sarai walked beside her. "Did you find anything yet?" she asked. Alexandra shook her head grimly. She sighed and looked away. 

Sarai listened to the crunching of the gravel beneath her feet. She looked backwards. "I wonder how long we've been lost," she thought. That's when she felt a bad vibe. She looked past the edge of the road and strained her eyes to see past the tall grass. There was barely any breeze but the grass would move occasionally like something, or someone, was making it do so. She was beginning to feel a little uneasy. She turned her head back and stared at the gravel once more. Then she saw something move out of the corner of her eye. She quickly turned her head back and stared at where the disturbance had been. 

Alexandra walked up to her side. "What is it?" she asked. Sarai looked back at her for a moment, as if she needed to see who it was, turned her head back and spoke. "I saw something move over there," she replied. "It was probably just an animal," Alexandra reassured her. Sarai nodded, yet she still kept watch. "Something's out there, I just don't know what," she thought. She then heard a strange buzzing noise, like a walky-talky, quickly followed by talking that she couldn't make out. Eric started walking next to her, and he had the exact same look on his face as she did. "Someone's out there," he said, almost in a whisper. Sarai nodded in agreement. Now it was just a matter of _who_ was out there. Sarai looked over again to try and see what was there, and then she heard a loud click. 

All of them had heard the click, or at least one of them as ten soldiers dressed in black Kevlar body armor and black helmets stood up and readied their guns. Alexandra, Ronin, Sarai, Jacque, and Eric all turned and prepared to defend themselves. 

"Commander Kaioh!" one of the soldiers called. The look on Ronin's face changed completely from one of anger to that of disbelief. "Men! Attack!" called the female voice belonging to the one dubbed as Commander. The men dispersed upon the five of them, but Ronin's focus was still owned by Commander Kaioh. "Michiru?" he asked in disbelief. The woman slowly took off her helmet and looked him in the eye. "Ronin?" she asked in turn. "I'm sorry," she said hesitantly raising her gun and aiming for him, "I've been given strict orders to kill you and those who provide shelter for you, assassin!" By the time she was ready to shoot, his had his ready and aimed. "To think, you used to have respect for me," he said as a smirk grew on his face. Michiru moved her fingers to the trigger. "Damn it, Kasshu! Don't you toy with me! I'm not afraid to shoot!" she yelled. He looked at her with an expression that was already full of regret. "I'm sorry to have to do this to you, Michiru. You were a good friend," he said, firing his weapon. She was just about to shoot, when he hit her in the leg with a dart. She winced in pain and dropped her gun. He looked at her with remorse, but, what was done, was done. She slowly dropped to her knees, and then fell down in entirety. He looked down at her, with the slightest trace of a tear in his eye. "I'm sorry, my friend." 

The other soldiers fought on, although they were too boggled by the thought of how one man could so quickly kill their commander with one shot to the leg, and they were quickly defeated. They hadn't killed them, only left them unconscious, save their commander. They had left the main road, and were all sitting on a ledge over looking a small river. Ronin, as always, was sitting alone, isolating himself from most human contact. 

Alexandra, Eric, Sarai, and Jacque were all sitting together, and they all, except for Alexandra, were talking. Not about specific things, just about what they were thinking, mostly. Alexandra, of course, wasn't a part of the conversation. She couldn't get her mind off of Ronin. 

It was mostly one question she had for him. "Why did he kill her?" she thought. He apparently knew her from somewhere. "But why kill your friend?" she asked herself. She turned her head and looked at him. He was sitting with his back facing them, and as far as she could tell, he had his head in his hands. She stood up and walked over to where he was sitting. 

She stood behind him for a moment and just stared. "What?" he asked coldly. She walked the short distance forward and sat down next to him. He tilted his head in her direction. "What?" he asked again. "That girl, you seemed to know her," she said. He looked back over at the river for a moment, then turned his gaze back where it had been. "Michiru," he said softly, "Michiru Kaioh. She was a great friend to me." "Then why? Why did you do that to her?" Alexandra demanded. "It was either me, or her," he answered simply. She just gazed at him with tears forming in her eyes. She felt as though she were feeling the pain that he didn't know how to suffer, like he was immune to everything anyone could throw at him. "The Ronin Kasshu she knew died years ago," he continued. "Were you two in…" Alexandra trailed off. He shook his head slowly. "You act as though you don't even care," she said, her voice reflecting how angry she felt that he cared nothing for her compassion. "I've cried a lifetime's worth of tears two times over. I'm starting to think my soul gave up years ago, but my body still lives on," he said. Alexandra looked away for a moment. "How could anyone so cold and shallow be so deep and caring all at the same time?" she asked herself. Ronin stood up and a small smile almost found a place upon his features. Not one of his usual smirks, but a warm, almost loving smile. "It was nice talking with you, Alexandra," he said, before walking off. She had an expression of amazement and confusion on her face. She turned her head back and looked at the river. "Yeah, you too." 


	10. Disapearing Act

Before The War

Chapter 10

Alexandra sat with her knees against her chest on the cliff and looked off in the distance at the long and winding river. She looked up at the sky and sighed. "This whole thing is completely pointless, isn't it?" she asked, gazing up at the stars. She slowly moved her hand up and fingered the small golden cross that hung around her neck. She closed her eyes and breathed in through her nose. She then quickly opened her eyes and reached down for her bag that had been sitting next to her and pulled out the book. She gazed at it for a moment and brushed invisible dust from the cover, as if deciding weather to open it up or not. She finally did, however, and flipped through the pages aimlessly. "There's just so much information in here that I'll never need it's just agonizing to try and find out what I need to know," she thought. A frustrated look crossed her features as she slammed the book shut. As she shut it, a small piece of paper fell to the ground. Alexandra set the book down, and with a curious expression on her face she grabbed the paper. "Now what is this?" she asked softly she looked it over. On it was writing, a message of some sort that had been scribbled very quickly. Alexandra stared at it, trying to decipher it for a few moments, until she finally figured out what it said: 

__

Where the last battle

Of the year we met

Took place

The chosen five who have faith in their crests

Will find the true path

And once again become

The guardians and protectors 

Of the Earth and all of her colonies

Alexandra stared at it for a moment. "_The chosen five_?" she repeated, "What in hell is that supposed to mean?" She read the note again. "I guess it's the five of us," she thought. "_Who have faith in their crests_," she thought. At that moment, she felt an excruciating pain in her right hand in which she was holding the note. She opened her hand, dropping the note. She rubbed her hand with her left hand as a breeze kicked up. "No, no, no!" she yelled as she lunged for the note as it was blown away by the wind. She watched as it blew away over the cliff. "You have to be kidding me," she said almost silently. Tears slowly welled up in her eyes. She laid down in the grass as a single tear ran down her cheek. "This is freaking hopeless." 

A few hours later, Ronin sat against a tree sound asleep. His eyes darted open and he was breathing very quickly. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and leaned his head back against the tree's trunk. He closed his eyes tightly and his breathing slowed. "Kakyu…" he whispered, as a tear ran down his cheek, reflecting the moonlight. 

__

~Flashback~

A young woman with blue hair sat next to Ronin with a glowing smile on her face. "Oh wow, Ronin! It's so great you two are finally getting married!" she said. She playfully threw her arms around him. She looked up at the man around her age with spiked dark pink hair and pretended to cry. "They grow up so fast," she said, wiping away a fake tear. The man chuckled as Ronin tried to push her away. "C'mon, Michiru," he pleaded, "Let me go! I can't breath!" The man standing behind the two shook his head. "You do know what this means, don't you, Ronin?" he asked. "No, what does it mean, Kichiro?" Ronin asked sarcastically. "Me and Taro get to throw you a bachelor party!" Kichiro answered. Michiru looked at him. "You are a pig!" she yelled, throwing a light punch at him. "Hey, hey, hey! I thought you wanted to come in that little purple number," he said playfully. "Oh, shut up!" she yelled. Then it dawned on her. "Hey, wait a minute, where is Taro?" she asked. "Yeah, where is that baka?" Kichiro asked, like he was questioning Ronin. "I haven't seen him all day," Ronin said. They continued talking for a few minutes as a young woman with dark green knee-length hair, wearing a white T-shirt and black skirt walked up. 

"Ronin, are you going to hang out with your friends all day or are you going come spend some time with me? I am your fiancée, after all," she said. All three of them looked over at her. "Oh, hey, Kakyu," Michiru greeted. Kichiro nodded and waved a little. Ronin, however, knowing his friends were giving him a sign to make a move, got up and walked over to Kakyu. He placed his hands on her hips and smiled down at her. Her eyes met his and she giggled a little. "What are you up to?" she asked. "Depends on what you consider 'up to something'," he said mischievously as he leaned his head forward. Their lips met and she wrapped her arms around him. Michiru and Kichiro watched and, of course, provided the sound effects. "Oh that is so sweet," Michiru said. Kichiro elbowed her to get her attention. "You should see them after dark," he said, trying to keep himself from cracking up. 

With this, Kakyu pushed Ronin back and started laughing. Ronin turned his head and looked at them. "Do you mind?" he asked. Michiru and Kichiro both shook their heads in unison. "Nope, not one bit," Michiru said sarcastically. Ronin started to crack up. "You two are fucked up, you know that?" he asked. All four of them started laughing. Kakyu walked up to Ronin with a large smile on her face. "I love you, Ronin," she said sweetly as she looked up into his eyes. "I love you too, Kakyu." 

__

~End Flashback~

Ronin looked up at the moon. He smiled a little as another tear ran down his cheek. He turned his head and saw Alexandra, lying right where she had been all night. He cringed a little with the thought of how much she looked like Kakyu. "I miss her so much," he said softly. He moved his hand down to his gun and effortlessly pulled it out of its holster. He sighed and almost silently walked over to her sleeping form. He got down on one knee and set his gun down next to her. "This might come of good use to you," he said softly, "I don't need it anymore." With this, he stood back up and walked down the dirt path through the forest, leaving them all behind. 

The next morning when Alexandra awoke, the first thing she saw was Ronin's gun in front of her. "What is this doing here?" she asked as she extended her hand. Her fingertips touched the cold steel and she immediately pulled her hand away. She sat up and looked around for a moment. "Ronin?" she asked silently, "Where the hell is he?" She got up and walked over to where Sarai was lying. Alexandra set her hands on Sarai's shoulders and shook her lightly. "Sarai, wake up," she whispered. Sarai rolled over, but that was the only response she got. Alexandra shook her harder, and she finally woke up. "I'm up, I'm up," she said, brushing a stray strand of hair out of her face, "What?" "Ronin, he-he's gone," Alexandra replied. "You sure he's not just out takin' a whiz or something?" she asked while yawning. Alexandra nodded. "He left his gun here," she said. "Oh, wow, where do you think he went?" Sarai asked. "How should I know?" Alexandra said, her patience wearing thin. "Well, excuse me," Sarai said before rolling back over. "What are you doing?" Alexandra asked. "I am going back to sleep," Sarai muttered, not even bothering to look back at her. "What are you talking about! We have to go find Ronin!" she said, her frustration growing even more evident. "Well, if he left, the whole point was probably to get away from us, so why should we go looking for him?" Sarai replied. Alexandra looked at her with a hurt expression. "Fine then, I'll just go myself," Alexandra said defiantly. "Oh, would you take Jacque to, I'm getting really sick of him," Sarai said. Alexandra glared at her. "Well, I thought you were the one who wanted this the most, you know. You're the one who knew their own past, you're the one who wanted to continue the legacy," she said. Sarai slowly sat up. "Ya know, you're right. I've forgotten why I even agreed to this. God, I feel like an old lady right now," she replied. Alexandra smiled a little and stood up. She extended her hand out to Sarai. "C'mon. We'll go wake up the guys and look for Ronin. He couldn't of gotten far."


	11. I've Fallen For You Ten Times Harder

FQ: Holy shit! It's an actual update!

Before The War

Chapter 11

Sarai, Alexandra, Jacque, and Eric all walked down a dirt path they had found that lead through the woods. Alexandra looked through the book as she walked. "Alexandra, what are you doing?" Sarai asked. "I'm trying to find out where the final battle of the Gundam Fight took place in the… oh, just forget it," she said. Sarai looked back and forth between Alexandra and the ground. "Well, the Battle Royal, if that's what you mean, was always held on a small island in Neo Hong Kong," Sarai said. Alexandra turned her head and looked at Sarai. "Are you serious?" she asked. Sarai nodded. "I think it was called…Lantau…yeah, Lantau Island," she said, not sounding completely sure of herself. Sarai grimaced as soon as she said this. "Please do not tell those Gundams are on that island," Sarai said with all seriousness. "Why couldn't they be?" Alexandra asked. Sarai put her hands on her head. "No, no, no, no," she said over and over. "What? What's wrong with them being on Lantau Island?" Alexandra asked again. Sarai looked at her with a disappointed expression. "Alexandra, I don't know how to say this, but…ah, there is no Lantau Island…at least anymore," she said. Alexandra glared at her. "What in all the hells are you talking about?" she asked. "There was just… I don't know, some kind of disaster a few year back, and it just…well, it pulled an Atlantis, I guess," Sarai explained. Alexandra stopped in her tracks and stared at her. "What? What do you mean 'pulled an Atlantis'?" she asked. Eric and Jacque had too, stopped, to try and figure out what they were talking about. "Well, the island, its just, now at least, its mostly covered over, with…water," she said. Alexandra dropped the book right onto the gravel below her. "No…fucking…way," Jacque muttered. "You mean to tell me that we came all this way, and our Gundams are at the bottom of the ocean, rusting like buckets?" Eric asked. Alexandra picked up the book and shook her head. "No. Oh, no, they're fine," she said. Jacque stared at her blankly. "What in God's name are you talking about, woman?" he asked. "Gundarium, they're all made of Gundarium. They won't rust. They can't rust. That metal is tough stuff. They're isn't a chance in hell those things will be rusted when we find them," she said. Sarai shook her head. "You guys, we need to pay attention to one thing at a time," she said, causing the rest of them to look at her. "We still need to find Ronin," she said. Alexandra nodded. "You know what, we should stay focused," she said, putting her hand on the gun she had apparently been left, "We do need to find him. If we keep going like this we're bound to catch up to him." Sarai, Eric, and Jacque all nodded in agreement with her. The group, soon hopefully, would be back together. 

Ronin sat against a tree with his eyes closed, listening to the sounds around him. He chuckled a little; knowing that the band he had left behind was probably close on his trail. He knew it was Alexandra who would have gotten them to go along with her; she was the leader-type. But what he didn't know was why she was so devoted. She seemed like nothing mattered more to her than one thing for a part of her life, and then when that faded away, something new took its place, but that is what he knew from only observing her. Only a true friend would know if what he thought was the truth or not, but for some reason, in his heart, he felt he was right. 

But then again, why was he thinking with his heart about her? He massaged his temples to try and clear his head. "There is something more to this whole Gundam thing," he thought. Someone, somewhere, was trying to find him. Either they wanted him dead (which many did), or they wanted him to lead them to something. His banged his head against the tree behind him a few times. This was much too confusing for him. 

Alexandra sighed. Sarai looked at her. "You okay?" she asked. "Huh, oh, yeah…I was just thinking," she replied. "Oh, okay," Sarai said with a nod, "What're you thinking about?" "Nothing much," Alexandra responded. "Must be a whole lot of nothing for you to space out like that, Alexandra. Alexandra?" she said, poking her in the shoulder. She abruptly turned her head at her. "What?" she asked, seeming very annoyed. Sarai looked a little hurt at first, but then a large smile crossed her face. "You were thinking about Ronin, weren't you," she said tauntingly. Alexandra glared at her. "Of course I'm not," she said, although she was still holding the gun. Sarai looked down at her belt and shook her head, and Alexandra quickly removed her hand. "Look at you, you poor, poor thing you. Head over heels in love and you're in denial. It's sad, really," she said in a professional's tone. Alexandra shook her head. "You are so childish, Sarai," she said. Sarai sighed. "I'm only stating the truth, you don't have to get on my case about it," she said. They all continued walking, although Alexandra could not stop thinking about what Sarai had said. 

Ronin lazily stood up and looked around. The sky had grown darker with rain clouds. "Oh, shit," he groaned. "Better find something to stay in." That's when he heard voices that seemed to be calling his name. He shook his head angrily and sighed. "Can't they get it through their thick skulls? I don't want them hanging around," he thought, "Dammit…I'm going soft." He started walking again, and with one sound of thunder and a torrent of rain poured down on him. "God damn it!"

"God damn it!" Alexandra shrieked as tons of icy water was dumped on her from the sky. Sarai walked up to her, just as soaked as she. Alexandra turned on a hell and faced her. "Listen, I have had a really messed up day. I'm wet, I'm lost, I'm cold, and I'm tired. Will you just leave me alone for a minute or two?" she asked in a low growl. Sarai looked at her with a half angry, half hurt expression. "Well, excuse me," she said. Alexandra looked down at the muddy ground. "Look, I'm sorry. You guys go back and try to find somewhere to get directions or stay or something, and I'll go ahead and look for Ronin," she said. Sarai glanced back at an aggravated looking Jacque, and an indifferent looking Eric. "Okay, you just be careful," she said. "Don't worry, I'll be fine, I can take care of myself," Alexandra replied. Sarai nodded and turned around, and the three of them walked off, leaving Alexandra alone. 

She turned and ran off into the tree-cluttered area. She kept going for about twenty minutes, until she stopped and hid behind a giant rock when she saw Ronin, walking very slowly. She watched him with curiosity for a moment, until he turned around. "You can come out, Alexandra. I know you're there," he said. She slowly stood up and waved a little, although she knew it was a really stupid thing to do. "What do you want?" he demanded. Alexandra looked down at the ground, and then back up at Ronin, however, his glare was set on her. 

"Do you realize that I could just kill you now, and have no regret about it, Alexandra?" Ronin asked coldly. Alexandra pulled out the dart gun that he had left for her and aimed defensively, with absolutely no intentions of firing. Ronin chuckled a bit, turning Alexandra's expression into one of suspicious. "What are you laughing at? I don't think _you _realize it, but I _have the authority_ to kill you and have no regrets," she said. "That's not what I'm laughing at, stupid. If you didn't know, the safety's on," he said. Alexandra looked at the weapon in her hand, and as she did so, Ronin took the opportunity to trip her, sending her to the ground. 

She reached out to grab the weapon, but Ronin's movement was too fast, and soon her hand was pinned to the ground under his foot. He bent down and picked it up, laughing at her. "I can't believe you actually fell for that," he laughed. "Shut the hell up, you spineless bastard!" she yelled. "Now, now, bad language won't help you," he said. Alexandra snapped. She got up on her knees, but saw the dart gun aimed right at her. "You…wouldn't…would you?" she stuttered. He kept aiming for a moment, but lowered it. "You know what, you're right. I won't. This time. I'll spare you, and leave, but if you have the gull to come after me again, I swear to God I **will** fucking kill you," he growled. 

He turned around and started walking away and she called after him. He stopped moving and started to speak. "I can't let you get hurt again, Kakyu!" he yelled, his voice cracking at the end. Alexandra stood up angrily and spun him around. "And who the hell, if I may ask, is this Kakyu chick?" she demanded. He looked down, and his expression took a turn for the worst. She immediately started to fell bad, although she didn't know why. "Alexandra, do you remember when I told you why I was discharged from the army?" he asked. She nodded slightly. "The woman who was killed…Kakyu," he started. "Another soldier?" she asked curiously. He shook his head a little. "She was…my fiancée," he said grimly. Alexandra gasped and covered her mouth in surprise. "Oh, Ronin…I'm sorry…I didn't mean anything by it…I was just---" "Don't bother. You're apologies can't bring her back. Nothing can, so just don't bother," he said. A single, silvery water drop ran down his cheek. Alexandra wasn't sure if it was a tear, or a raindrop, since the rain was continuous, but she still felt terrible either way. 

She took a few somber steps forward and out her arms around him in a comforting embrace. She shivered, not realizing until now how cold she had been. He put one of his hands on the back of her head and stroked her wet hair. "You know, you look exactly like she did. Her hair was just a little longer," he said giving a grim smile. Alexandra held onto him with an even tighter grip, but released him and took e few steps back. She wiped one of her own tears from her eyes before speaking. "I'm really sorry, Ronin, I should go," she said. With that, she turned on a heel and started to walk, when he grabbed her by the wrist, strong enough to keep her there, but gentle enough to not hurt her. 

He spun her around and held her tightly in his arms, looking down at her glistening face. He brushed a strand of her soaked hair off of her face before speaking. "As much as I loved her," he said, leaning closer to her, "I think I've fallen for you ten times harder." Their lips met in a gentle kiss, which soon grew deep and passionate. They were each weaving their fingers through each other's hair, and the rain got worse for a moment, and as they parted, the rain dissipated. They looked into each other's eyes for a moment, and held each other in a deep embrace. "I'll never let anything happen to you, Alexandra. I swear on my own life, no one will hurt you as long as I am alive," he said firmly and gently at the same time. "I know, Ronin. C'mon, let's go." 

FQ: That was so sappy my stomach is vibrating…don't ask why, it's a condition. Just review, okay!


End file.
